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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

I was given, during one of those at home parties, a Pampered Chef mini cookbook. I have made some of the desserts in it, and they have all been good.

The girl child and I spied these in the book and started drooling. Not to mention, hubby is anti-mint chocolate (some weird childhood thing. Whatever.) so we knew we could make them and have them be safe, and ours, and yummy.

I got all the ingredients, with the exception of the almond bark. 4 stores I went to! No almond bark, no candy melts, no white dipping chocolate. Nothing. :::sigh:::
There were a few things I was ordering from Amazon, so I added some candy melts to the order.

In the meantime...my mother came to visit.
My mother has a sweet tooth like you only read about!
I kept chasing her away from the "snack shelf" to make sure she didn't eat my mint cookies!

Package arrived....dessert was made.

Since then, I have been to TONS of stores...and they ALL have almond bark or candy melts. :::sigh:::

Ingredients:

Crust

2 (10 oz) packages of fudge covered mint cookies

½ Cup butter

1 ¼ Cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

Filling and Topping

10 oz Vanilla Almond Bark

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 Tsp peppermint extract

6 Drops green food coloring

¼ Cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

Directions:

Crust

1. Place half of the cookies in a large resealable bag. Crush into very fine crumbs. Repeat with remaining cookies.

2. Place butter and chocolate morsels in small bowl. Microwave on high for 1-1.5 minutes or until butter is melted.

3. Stir until smooth

4. Add chocolate mixture to crumbs, mix until all crumbs are moistened.

Friday, October 25, 2013

:::sigh::: I understand we need rain, but that does not mean I want it!
You know how some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)? I never considered myself one of them.
Even in the "gloom" of winter, I am fine. Happy even. Winter is my favorite season!
Rain...rain makes me feel like I have SAD. Does it work that way?

I know SAD can be for any season (even summer, gasp!) but does it cover rainy days?

Anyone with an actual grasp of the medical field out there who can enlighten me?

This Kraft dish makes me think of sunshine, which makes me happy.
It doesn't hurt that it tastes delicious too!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

I had some chicken that had to be used up. You know the kind...it sits in the fridge, and you wonder why you got it. Did you have a plan you maybe forgot about...maybe it was just on sale. Who knows.

I was just going to cook it up with assorted seasonings, nothing special.
BUT...we needed some carb to go with it.
This recipe came from an old Tastefully Simple cookbook I had, and I adapted it as I didn't have all the required seasonings. (some you can't even get anymore)

Maybe I will try it again, and fudge around with the seasonings some.
We were not in love with this. We all ate it, but nobody wanted to save the leftovers.

Once again, I am just suggesting that everyone has different tastes. Try it, it might be a new fave in your house!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Cheese danish is my kryptonite. Bring a piece within a 5 mile radius of me and I just turn to a weak kneed jelly mess.

Though, it has never occurred to me to learn how to make it on my own.

Poking around online, I came across this recipe.
Oh the possibilities!
I made this as is, but I can imagine mixing in some raspberry jam....or using some citrus zest in the icing...or...or...or...
Seriously the possibilities are endless.

To make matters worse, I now know how to make this. It's easy...and delicious.
Heaven help my waistline!

Friday, October 18, 2013

The smell of gingerbread just screams Christmas and holidays to me.
That being said, I love, love, love the flavor, so I make it year round.

I had made this cake and needed to make the whipped cream frosting.
As I was pretty busy doing other things, I asked the girl child to help me out.
(I also love, love, love when she is in the kitchen with me!)

She made whipped cream for the first time with this recipe. As she was standing there with the hand mixer (electric) just mixing and mixing, she was saying "Gee, if it's this long/hard to make homemade whipped cream, I can only imagine what it was like in the olden days with the hand mixers".

This of course prompted hubby to launch into one of his "when I was your age" stories. He was telling her about how he used to have to make it for his mother frequently, and yes, your arms got quite tired.

Being the science geek she is, she very much enjoyed watching the cream come together. She was pretty well jumping up and down when it was completed. (Maybe I am confusing this nerdy moment with excitement that she doesn't have to mix anymore).

One small taste later, and she declared homemade whipped cream, even molasses whipped cream, was "worth it".
High praise from the teen!

I would love to visit all 50 states. I met someone who did and thought "well gee, isn't that neat?". We don't play tourist in America enough!!

2. What helps you out of a creative slump?

I look around my house. Seriously. I watch hubby and the girl. Mr. Sir the cat. Who is doing what? It just sort of clears my mind and makes me able to think again.

3. If you could be any profession for a day, which would you choose and why?

I would totally rock CFO of a multinational corporation! I want the feeling of holding that much power and control. That's not crazy, right?

4. Have you had any major fails while cooking or crafting? What was it?

OMG I fail all the time! Hubby and the girl know to brace themselves when I am cooking and they hear "pizza is on speed dial, right?". I suck at bread. I want to make it...but the lack of a mixer doesn't help. I have a bread machine...but to make it by hand...I have thrown away gobs of unbaked dough. Or flat cooked dough. Or black lumps of something.

5. What is the silliest thing you’ve ever done?

This blog isn't long enough. Seriously. I am constantly doing silly things. Lately? Probably when the invisible speed bump popped up at work and I did that funny tripping...yet trying to play it off semi dance move. Yeah, that was silly. Just trip and be proud of it!

6. What is the most difficult thing you’ve come across being a parent?

Trying to remember that it is her life and not mine. Looking at a mirror image (physically) of myself at that age and needing to learn to support her and treat her as she needs to be treated, not as I would have needed. As we move onto some huge milestones in her life, this is more glaring than ever.

7. What is your favorite tradition you want to pass on to your kids?

Christmas morning. We drag it out. Coffee, snacks. Stockings. One present at a time. We all get to see it, enjoy it, appreciate it. I want her to pass this to her children and remember the love behind every wrapped thought that morning.

8. What do you do to de-stress?

Read. I am a voracious reader for most of the year. Fall into winter I am usually too busy, but that's alright.

9. What is your guilty pleasure?

Cartoons and cheesy 80's movies.

10. Do you speak a foreign language? Which one?

I only wish! My great grandmother tried like crazy to teach me and my older cousins Lithuanian...and we didn't take up on it too well. Now I wish I had more patience with it.

11. What is your favorite memory as a child?

Way too many to mention. One in particular is waking up ridiculously early in the morning, knowing we were headed to the airport to go to Disney and finding a real stretch limo waiting in the driveway for us.

Questions for my nominees....

1. Is there a story behind your first or middle name?

2. What is your favorite item to make in the kitchen?

3. If you could be any sitcom character, who would it be and why?

4. What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten (or attempted to eat)?

5. If you are married, what was your wedding song and why? If you are not married, do you have one already picked out in your head?

6. Which holiday is your favorite and what traditions do you follow?

7. Who, in your life, has made the biggest impact on who you are today?

8. If you had unlimited funds, which charity would you help the most and why?

9. Morning person or night owl?

10. When I think of childhood, the first thing that comes to mind is...